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Product Description
Review
“His thoughts are informed by a fair amount of reading, a keen sense of observation and a humane disposition… funny, intelligent, and well worth hearing… Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to walk the Ulster Way. Instead, buy this book, take off your shoes and socks, sit down by a warm fire, pour yourself a glass of whisky, and walk with Will Ferguson, step by vicarious step.” - The Globe and Mail
“Travel at times can be no laughing matter. So it’s always a good idea to pack a book that is like, say, Beyond Belfast…. Great scenery, oddball characters and much hilarity ensue.” - National Post
“A modern-day journey through Ireland with tongue firmly in cheek . . . Wildly funny.” - Ottawa Citizen
“A smart, engaging travel memoir about sore feet, Northern Ireland and coming to terms with who you are and from where you came.” - Winnipeg Free Press
“A thoughtful travelogue chronicling the author’s arduous journey across Northern Ireland in a bid to uncover his grandfather’s long-buried Northern Irish roots.” - Maclean's
“He tells his story intelligently and kindly.” - The Leacock Foundation’s Award Committee
“The humour is subtle and usually self-deprecating…. For anyone who has never been to Northern Ireland and is planning to go, Beyond Belfast is a great primer to understanding the people, places and problems.” - Vancouver Sun
“Like with most other Will Ferguson books, don’t forget a box of tissues to wipe your tears of laughter.” - Campbell River Mirror
“Beyond Belfast by Will Ferguson… is, in this reader’s opinion, the best book Will Ferguson has penned to date. I shouted “Wow!” I gasped and I giggled and at least a dozen times I laughed out loud. I couldn’t put it down. The story held me from page to page as if I was right there slogging through the Irish bogs with the author… Ferguson’s insights are superb.” - Indian Head-Wolseley News
“Hilariously rewarding…. A choose-your-own-adventure book where the ‘choices’ were perhaps the worst ones, but certainly the most adventurous.” - See Magazine
“A sharp and witty picture of the land and its people.” - Niagara Magazine
“Travel at times can be no laughing matter. So it’s always a good idea to pack a book that is like, say, Beyond Belfast…. Great scenery, oddball characters and much hilarity ensue.” - National Post
“A modern-day journey through Ireland with tongue firmly in cheek . . . Wildly funny.” - Ottawa Citizen
“A smart, engaging travel memoir about sore feet, Northern Ireland and coming to terms with who you are and from where you came.” - Winnipeg Free Press
“A thoughtful travelogue chronicling the author’s arduous journey across Northern Ireland in a bid to uncover his grandfather’s long-buried Northern Irish roots.” - Maclean's
“He tells his story intelligently and kindly.” - The Leacock Foundation’s Award Committee
“The humour is subtle and usually self-deprecating…. For anyone who has never been to Northern Ireland and is planning to go, Beyond Belfast is a great primer to understanding the people, places and problems.” - Vancouver Sun
“Like with most other Will Ferguson books, don’t forget a box of tissues to wipe your tears of laughter.” - Campbell River Mirror
“Beyond Belfast by Will Ferguson… is, in this reader’s opinion, the best book Will Ferguson has penned to date. I shouted “Wow!” I gasped and I giggled and at least a dozen times I laughed out loud. I couldn’t put it down. The story held me from page to page as if I was right there slogging through the Irish bogs with the author… Ferguson’s insights are superb.” - Indian Head-Wolseley News
“Hilariously rewarding…. A choose-your-own-adventure book where the ‘choices’ were perhaps the worst ones, but certainly the most adventurous.” - See Magazine
“A sharp and witty picture of the land and its people.” - Niagara Magazine
Book Description
Offbeat, charming, and filled with humour and insight, Beyond Belfast is the story of one man’s misguided attempt at walking the Ulster Way, “the longest waymarked trail in the British Isles.” It’s a journey that takes Will Ferguson through the small towns and half-forgotten villages of Northern Ireland, along rugged coastlines and across barren moorland heights, past crumbling castles and patchwork farms.From IRA pubs to Protestant marches, from bandits and bad weather to banshees and blood sausage, he wades into the thick of things, providing an affectionate and heartfelt look at one of the most misunderstood corners of the world. As the grandson of a Belfast orphan, Will also peels back the myths and realities of his own family history—a mysterious photograph, rumours of a lost inheritance. The truth, when it comes, is both surprising and funny …
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Ways of Ulster,
By
This review is from: Beyond Belfast (Hardcover)
I found this a lovely book, often dealing with sensitive issues with compassion and a light, deft touch. The story within the story unfurls as he very accrately describes the undulations of the vagaries of the Ulster Way. One might confuse the walkways of the Ulster Way as the way things are in Ulster! His descriptions of the land almost allow the land of each county to tell its own tale. The Northern Irish humour can be dark, and yet very, very funny and Will Ferguson has captured these aspects thoroughly. Some of his characters are so vividly drawn that they are very familiar in personality and behaviour, consequently very real. It is a book that will reveal more nuggets on reading again and again.....Thank you, Sir!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and very enjoyable,
By C. J. Thompson "Arctic John" (Pond Inlet, Nunavut Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Beyond Belfast (Hardcover)
About a quarter of the way into this book I began to compose a review that ended with the sentiment that I would be unlikely to read this again. My first impressions were not overly negative; I just didn't find much that excited my interest to any great degree. Mostly, I found myself comparing this author to Bill Bryson, one of my favorite travel yarn writers. This is, after all, the sort of book you can well imagine Bryson writing, except that whereas with Bryson I might get belly-laughs, here I just got the odd chuckle once in a while.The comparison, of course, is not a very fair one and at about the half-way mark into the book I found that I had become gripped by the narrative in spite of my first impressions. Ferguson is quite skilled as a 'visual' writer, but his low-key delivery makes that fact easy to miss at first. What seems like a very light-hearted romp of a book actually covers some very serious stuff and the lightness is often counter-balanced by a real darkness in subject and tone. Particularly moving is the passage where the author attends the public inquest into the infamous bombing in Omagh. All in all this is a good 'wee' book (as they might have it in Ulster). I will read it again sometime.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and very enjoyable,
By C. J. Thompson "Arctic John" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beyond Belfast (Hardcover)
About a quarter of the way into this book I began to compose a review that ended with the sentiment that I would be unlikely to read this again. My first impressions were not overly negative; I just didn't find much that excited my interest to any great degree. Mostly, I found myself comparing this author to Bill Bryson, one of my favorite travel yarn writers. This is, after all, the sort of book you can well imagine Bryson writing, except that whereas with Bryson I might get belly-laughs, here I just got the odd chuckle once in a while.The comparison, of course, is not a very fair one and at about the half-way mark into the book I found that I had become gripped by the narrative in spite of my first impressions. Ferguson is quite skilled as a 'visual' writer, but his low-key delivery makes that fact easy to miss at first. What seems like a very light-hearted romp of a book actually covers some very serious stuff and the lightness is often counter-balanced by a real darkness in subject and tone. Particularly moving is the passage where the author attends the public inquest into the infamous bombing in Omagh. All in all this is a good 'wee' book (as they might have it in Ulster). I will read it again sometime. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
First rate and entertaining,
By Anime Domo "Anime Domo" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beyond Belfast (Hardcover)
Some years back, on the cusp of the current Peace Accords, Mr Ferguson took on the long hike of the Ulster Way, a weeks-long walk around the perimeter of modern-day Northern Ireland, tackling both the difficult physical journey and the very difficult subjects of Irish history and society, ancient and modern. This book is a very well written account of all of that, expressed with considerable compassion, insight, and humour. Anyone interested in hiking or in Ireland will enjoy this book.
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